


Once in a Blue Moon

by Speeps



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-24 11:09:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13809939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Speeps/pseuds/Speeps
Summary: This…can’t be the place. Keith frowned. It’s too…normal.Biting his lip, he consulted the text for what was probably the fiftieth time when he felt it. That familiar pull, that wave of energy that all places of magical influence had. It was like the air around him was sizzling, the feeling pleasant against his skin. It was as if something had grabbed onto his very veins and was dragging him towards the entrance, sparking with electricity and a mysterious, lively thrum. He grinned, and pulled open the door.An old magic supplies shop, a boy with forget-me-not eyes and an oncoming war send Keith on a journey of discovery, deception and learning that sometimes, risking everything for love is worth it.





	1. Commander of the Blithering Idiots

The High Council was a room of chaos, normally civil and self-disciplined wizards leaping out of their seats to argue their points, teeth bared and magic thrumming through the air. The types of elementals in the room varied a great amount, from spirit and air elementals to those of mind and earth. All but two were on their feet, faces red and veins throbbing. A lightning elemental wizard suddenly stuck the table in anger, causing a brief silence before the argument once again resumed.

Princess Allura, head of the High Council, sat at the head of the table on her throne, chin in her hand as she watched with a bored expression on her face. She raised her eyebrows as someone cast a chair to fly through the air and sighed, inspecting her nails.

She watched the carnage ensue with cool, calculating eyes, gaze zeroing in on one figure who remained sat in his chair. Curiosity peaked and she raised an eyebrow.

The seated figure was in a position much like her own: his legs were crossed; he held his head in his hand and he was watching with a great expression of interest and amusement. It seemed as if he was laughing at the stupidity of the others to himself, and the air of superiority around him planted an idea in her head.

“Silence!” she suddenly yelled, getting to her feet and holding out her arms. The room obliged, those standing left embarrassed as they returned to their seats. “Arguing is not the answer! This is supposed to be the High Council, one of prestige and intelligence. Most of you have stood yelling like infants!”

She then turned to the wizard sat near the end and winked. “The only calm person besides myself today is half of many of your ages. He’s a third of your age for some of you.” she glared at an old woman that sat to her left.

“For someone to be this young and to have a better grip on their emotions should be shameful for the rest of you. This is why I am assigning him as lead investigator and head of command on this case.”

Murmurs snaked their way around the wizards. The boy at the end seemed appalled, his mouth hanging open and blushing at the looks cast his way.

“Lance McClain Sanchez. I assign you this mission, and you are to take command over these blithering idiots.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Lance might be a bit in over his head, huh? 
> 
> Well, he might surprise you ;)


	2. The Aqueous Orchestra

Autumn leaves flittered through the brisk, English wind, the sky, surprisingly cloudless, a bright blue unusual for the season. The morning crowd hustled and bustled through the narrow London streets as cars of every hue and model drove by, scattering the piles of auburn leaves that rested at the side of the road. In amongst the various heads of the crowd, a bright red beanie could be seen bobbing up and down in the sea of muted colours, the owner of said beanie a lot less cheery than the colour of his hat.

Keith Kogane grumbled to himself as he weaved his way through the crowd, eyes scanning the various names of the quaint shops that lined this particular street.

 _Vrepit Sal’s…Olkari Flowers…Plaxum Art Gallery…this sure is one hipster alley, even by non-magic folk standards._ He thought to himself, pulling out his phone once more to check the address of the shop his brother had told him to stop by.

His brother Shiro, a gifted wizard and captain at the Ministry of Altean Magic, was recently dabbling with the various forms of elemental magic in an attempt to better arm his soldiers. To do so, he needed a couple of ingredients from a local magical supplies shop and with his now busier schedule as the Galra forces continued to terrorise Britain, he sent Keith with a list and address, the text filled with apologies and sympathy emojis. Looking at said text, Keith frowned as a notification from his ‘ _SpellCaster Times_ ’ news app informed him of yet another village captured by the Galra.

 _Lord Zarkon’s really got his mind set on this empire, huh?_ He thought to himself, cursing as an Igaiku walked right into him, spilling their coffee over his jacket. He huffed, scowling when the guy didn’t even stop to apologise. Shiro’s disappointed voice rang through his head:

_Igaiku isn’t their proper name, you know that. Stop using the slang and use the proper term: Non-Magic Folk._

Keith rolled his eyes at the imaginary Shiro in his brain and plowed on, now smelling slightly of cheap coffee. Suddenly, he spotted the sign he was looking for, the sight causing him to lengthen his gait slightly in his attempt to get the errand over and done with.

_Balmera Bakery_

Peering through the shop window, Keith raised an eyebrow at the sight of the inside of the shop. Three or four Igaiku _(sorry, Shiro)_ were milling around the assorted baked goods on offer, a large, cheerful boy about his age standing at the till with a bright smile on his face. An orange headband, presumably there to keep his hair out of his face, was tied tightly around his head and was covered in flour, matching the boy’s similarly orange apron. A small girl sat perched on the counter behind him, laptop in lap and glasses glinting in the sunlight.

 _This…can’t be the place._ Keith frowned. _It’s too…normal._

Biting his lip, he consulted the text for what was probably the fiftieth time when he felt it. That familiar pull, that wave of energy that all places of magical influence had. It was like the air around him was sizzling, the feeling pleasant against his skin. It was as if something had grabbed onto his very veins and was dragging him towards the door, sparking with electricity and a mysterious, lively thrum. He grinned, and pulled open the door.

The room he opened the door to was not the room he had just seen through the shop window.

In fact, there was no likeness at all. For one, this room was circular, curved walls towering high above him and ending at a magnificent domed skylight. Said walls were lined with curved shelves, housing books, glass bottles and vials as well as a seemingly uncountable number of drawers. One side of the room stretched back a bit farther, holding normal-sized bookcases that stretched for god knows how far. The whole room had an eerily old feel to it, a feeling that this shop had stood centuries before Keith’s own time.

Sunlight streamed through the glass dome above him, highlighting the specs of dust that danced in the air. And as the sunshine swam through the entirety of the room, it landed on the single desk that stood lone at the back of the circular part of the room. And floating above that desk, cross-legged and surrounded in a circle of five books (all floating too) was a boy.

He was wearing a blue button down and ripped black jeans, tongue stuck out and forehead furrowed in thought as his eyes flitted down the page of the book to his left. A few blue butterflies, seven at the most Keith guessed, fluttered lazily around the boy as he read, one arm serving as a chin-rest and the other resting gently on his lap. A delayed tinkle of a shop bell sounded from the door and suddenly all five books slammed shut at once with a loud thump, the butterflies disappearing immediately as the boy’s head snapped up in alarm. Keith jumped at the sound of the books closing and took an instinctive step back, excuses as to why he didn’t obtain the ingredients for Shiro already appearing in his head.

“Ah, shit, sorry. Hi, how can I help you?” The boy floated down to the ground and sent the books zooming off behind him into the maze of bookshelves with a flick of his wrist. “Name’s Lance, by the way.” he pointed at the name tag on his chest - a crude post-it note scribbled on with sharpie.

“Keith.” Keith replied, pulling out his phone and checking the text. “I’m here to grab some stuff for my brother.”

“Ah, cool. Got tons of brothers myself. Whatcha need?”

“Uh…” Keith pulled out the list Shiro had passed him as he headed out. Poor guy was so behind the times he couldn’t figure out how to make a list in the actual text so had had to write it down on a piece of paper.

“500 grams of Kr…Krahae…Krahai-nero…”

“Krahaenerobithonium powder?” Lance offered, amused twinkle in his eye.

Keith blushed. “Yeah. That.”

A shit-eating grin spread across Lance’s face as he leaned on the desk, crossing his arms as he smirked. “Anything else?”

“A bottle of…Griz..Grizentia…Grizentiaro-“

“Grizentiarotopicaenarita?”

Keith grew even more red and nodded.

“Dilute or concentrate?”

“There’s a weird symbol after it that looks like a wonky smiley face if that helps.”

Lance threw his head back and laughed. And _holy shit_. The warmth on Keith’s cheeks blazed further still as he watched Lance giggle and fuck he could listen to that forever until he died. He stood there staring before he chuckled himself, the action causing Lance to stick out his tongue at him.

_Dear, Lord, take me now._

As his laugh subsided, Lance gestured at the list. “Could I?”

The embarrassed look on Keith’s face must have done the talking as Lance laughed again, quieter this time and under his breath. The sound still made Keith feel all fluttery inside as he handed it over.

Lance pulled out his phone to check the time and, when glancing over the list, pulled a strange, unreadable expression.

“Your brother write this?”

“Uh, yeah. Couldn’t work out how to text the list to me so shoved this in my face on my way out.”

Smirking slightly, Lance seemed to give Keith a once-over before looking back down at his phone. Keith noted the “aliens are real, bitches” phone case and raised his eyebrows in approval.

Once Lance seemed to have been satisfied, he brought two fingers to his lips and whistled. It was then that Keith noted the abnormally large number of rings the other boy wore, seemingly one on each finger with some even having two or in one instance, three. The ring on Lance’s right index finger held a large, slightly glowing blue stone and Keith knew at once that that was his soulstone.

A wizard’s soulstone was the very essence of one’s being. It was like the key to their soul, amplifying their magic, visibly glowing and humming with the owner’s magical signature. Each soulstone was chosen and given to each wizard at birth by a Warlock of Old: wizards of high skill that were reclusive and said to know the secrets of the universe. Once you have your soulstone, you cannot change it or hurt it, for it would quite literally shatter your soul, killing you instantly.

The majority of soulstones were embedded into jewellery. Subconsciously, Keith thumbed his own glowing red soulstone, found at the centre of a silver bangle on his wrist.

There was a silence after Lance’s whistle as they both waited for whatever on earth Lance was expecting. Lance sighed, rolling his eyes and whistling again. This time, something flashed past Keith’s left ear and he jumped, taking a step back once more.

A floating…ball of water?

It was small, smaller than his fist, and had no facial features whatsoever. However, it moved animatedly like an animal, happily dribbling around Lance in circles as he chuckled.

“Hi there to you too, little guy.” he giggled. “Go grab Pidge and tell her to bring me the latest status report and three blueberry muffins, one of them lactose free for Keith, here.”

The ball rubbed against Lance’s cheek adorably before flying off into the depths of the shop, whirling around a corner out of Keith’s line of sight.

“What was that?” Keith blurted out.

“Oh, that’s just Puddle. A water magic experiment gone wrong. He’s adorable though, so I really can’t get rid of him.” Lance sighed dramatically, clutching at his chest. “He’s like the pet hamster I never had.”

“You’re a water-sorcerer?”

A drop of water was flicked in his face and he pouted.

“That answer your question, firehead?”

Keith froze. “How do you know I’m a fire-sorcerer? And how did you know I’m lactose intolerant?”

Shrugging, Lance fiddled with his rings and hopped off the desk. “Well wouldn’t you like to know?” He winked.

Shivers made their way though Keith’s body and Lance smirked, glancing at the list again. Eyes still on the paper, he rose a hand behind him and a huge mass of water suddenly appeared from behind the desk, crashing down next to him like a wave but miraculously not splashing any of the shelves or Keith himself. It swam around his feet like a shark would circle prey and moved as if it was breathing, thrumming with magic. With a flourish of his hand, Lance was suddenly suspended in the air by the wave, the water sliding underneath his shoes and pushing him up. Lance himself was indifferent as the waves of water pulled him to and fro and with another flick of the wrist, it calmed down. Keith gaped as Lance was carried over to a drawer by the majority of the water, the rest turning into little arms that climbed up the shelves like vines, creating a beautiful pattern across the wooden planks.

As Lance rifled through one drawer, the water pulled out various items from other drawers: some books, a couple of jars, a pot of puffing powder amongst many other things.

It was impressive and Keith simply stood there, watching as the water moved like snakes, slithering through the air with items in ‘hand’. One stream of water reached right in front of his face, nearly taking him out with strange kind of utensil. Lance listed off the items Shiro had requested and the thin tendrils of water were moving away from the mass and opening and closing drawers, placing the needed items onto the counter. Lance was still shuffling through whatever was in the drawer that was before him, before he emerged with a glass jar. Inside the jar was a dancing purple flame, curling around the glass innards and flickering to and fro. 

“Hey loser, stop showing off.”

The sudden voice broke the silence of the room, the only previous sounds being the swishing of water and the clinks of jars as Lance continued to look through a drawer. A small girl, the same girl Keith saw in the bakery, was stood with one hand holding a scroll on her hip, the other holding a small cardboard box.

“It’s not showing off if it’s the way I always get things for customers.” Lance argued, finding what he was looking for and pulling out a large purple gemstone that pulsed with magic. “Besides, there’s like 30 items on the list, how am I supposed to get all of that without magic?”

“Point.” the girl placed the box on the desk and waved the scroll of parchment in the air.

“What do I do with the status reports for sector 7?”

“Pidge!” Lance hissed.

“What?”

Lance nodded at Keith, who suddenly felt like he was intruding on something important.

“Oh, shit, yeah. Sorry, I’ll just leave them here.” Pidge tucked the parchment into a drawer on the desk before sticking a hand out at Keith.

“I’m Katie, but most people call me Pidge.”

Raising an eyebrow, Keith took her hand and shook it once before letting go. “I’m Keith, and most people call me Keith.”

Pidge snorted. “See, look. That’s what I call a good joke. Take a leaf out of this guy’s book Lance.”

Squawking indignantly, Lance flicked an arm of water at her which she skilfully dodged, rolling her eyes and throwing a pen at him, nailing him right on the head.

“You’re lucky I know how to be professional you little shit,” Lance called over his shoulder as he reached up to grab a jar of purple fire. “Otherwise I would have decimated you right here right now!”

“I doubt you know what decimate means.” Keith said under his breath and Pidge sniggered.

While Lance winced as he picked up the multiple fire-jars, Pidge promised Keith a slice of cake on the house should he ever visit the bakery and turned to say something to Lance when her eyes widened and she was instantly climbing the bookcases towards him.

“Dude! What did I say about you being near the magical fires?” she scolded, grabbing them herself and somehow making it back to the floor without dropping them.

“Ugh, you’re not my mom, Pigeon.”

“Yeah, well your mom would have screamed at you if she saw that. You’re a water sorcerer for god’s sake, you know not to get near magic fire otherwise your power’s drained.”

“Did Lance try to hold fire jars again?” a loud voice yelled from the back of the shop where the bakery was. “Tell him that he’s banned from the cheesecakes for a week!”

“Hunk!” Lance pouted.

Yeah, now Keith really felt like he was intruding.

“Just cause you want to show off to the cute guy doesn’t warrant you to get yourself hurt.” Pidge rolled her eyes and tucked the jars safely into the bag.

Lance turned red, but the colour died almost as quickly as it appeared, a skill water sorcerers had that Keith was definitely envious of. Ignoring the middle finger Lance sent her way, Pidge sniggered and left, waving goodbye with a mischievous glint in her eye.

“Here ya go, then, Keith.” Lance grinned, handing the bags over. “Sorry about…all that.”

Smiling, Keith took the bags. “It’s fine, really. Thanks for the help.”

“No prob.” Lance said over his shoulder, already pulling out the scroll Pidge had brought with her. “Have a magical day!”

And maybe Keith glanced back, cheeks warming and smile spreading.

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Shiro,” Keith greeted his brother, who was currently sat at the kitchen counter, swirling a flask with a strange liquid inside it. “What’s that?”

“Some diorminade-hexine solution,” Shiro murmured, bringing it close to his face. “I’m trying to get it to bond with the trexard crystals I’ve lined the inside of the flask with.”

“Jesus, it’s like all of you are trying to make me look dumb today with your chemical names.” Keith remarked, carefully placing the bags on the counter.

Shiro paused. “What do you mean, ‘all of you’?”

“Oh, uh, there was just this guy at the shop that found the way I read the things on your shopping list quite funny.”

“Was the guy ginger? With a huge moustache and weird accent?”

Keith rose his eyebrows as he placed the cardboard box of muffins in between the two of them. “No? But he was nice and gave me free muffins.”

At that, Shiro instantly put down the flask and gave Keith an all too familiar grin. “Was he cuuuuute?”

Keith could already feel his cheeks turning red and turned away to save himself from Shiro’s laughter. Grabbing a glass of water, he crossed his arms and leant against the counter, looking down at his feet.

“What was he like?” Shiro implored, the diorminade-hexine solution forgotten.

“Well,” Keith thought back to Lance’s bright smile, and his azure-blue eyes that twinkled when he laughed. “He’s nice. But cocky. And his magic…just wow.”

Keith could see the waves of water flowing past him, swishing past his ears and teeming with magic that was alive. Delicate tendrils of water danced in front of his eyes, twirling in the air and humming with a pleasant tune as they picked up objects more than 10x their size with ease. And Lance’s slender fingers, littered with ornate rings, conducting the aqueous orchestra with tinkling laughter as he turned back to searching shelves himself.

“He’s the most talented water-sorcerer I think I’ve ever seen.” he whispered.

Snapping back to reality, Keith looked at Shiro, who had a grin on his face, almost fond. Blushing, Keith coughed and reached for the box, attempting to cover up his daze.

“Powerful enough to impress the great Keith Kogane,” Shiro commented, examining his muffin before taking a bite. “And gives you free muffins? Keith, he’s a keeper.”

Keith blocked out the sounds of Shiro’s giggles by burying his face in his hands to hide his smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #ShiroIsBestBro2k18


End file.
